AWDC Symposium on Diamond Markets in a Changed Economy

The 2009 Antwerp Diamond Symposium will be held November 15-16 at the Province House, the seat of the government of the Province of Antwerp. It will examine the condition and prospects of the diamond markets as the world economy begins its journey into recovery.

Titled “The Diamond Industry in the New Economy,” the symposium will start with a series of workshops on Sunday, November 15, and these will largely set the tone of the discussions that will take place during the formal symposium sessions on Monday, November 16.

“The 2008 Antwerp Diamond Symposium was held at a critical juncture for the diamond industry, and I believe that the same is true for the symposium in 2009,” said Freddy J. Hanard, CEO of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), which is hosting the event.

According to Hanard, strategies that were discussed last year, like the temporary curtailing of rough production, were eventually introduced by the mining companies, most notably Alrosa.

“The goal of the 2009 symposium is to look at the new economy and to discuss how we, as a business community, should adapt to its different rules and conditions.”

This is the second consecutive year that the AWDC is hosting an Antwerp Diamond Symposium. Last year, due to the crisis, the Antwerp Diamond Conferences that have been held since 2002 were substituted with a symposium, a format that created wide internal discussions among the participants and allowed for productive exchange of ideas.